__NOTOC__ Radius Ensemble is a classical music chamber group based in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

. The mission of Radius Ensemble is to reinvigorate classical music for a new generation. Accessibility is a fundamental philosophy of Radius. The group eschews the stuffiness and elitism often associated with chamber music and seeks to attract a new, generally younger and more informal, audience to its performances. The ensemble's primary performance venue is MIT's Killian Hall with occasional outreach concerts at various locations in the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northe ...

area. Radius Ensemble also performs one free family-oriented concert every spring. Radius was founded in 1999 by Jennifer Montbach who (as of the 2008–2009 season) continues as the group's artistic director and oboist.

Personnel

There are nine core members of the Radius Ensemble. The core personnel for the 2008–2009 season are Sarah Bob on piano, Miriam Bolkosky on violoncello, Sarah Brady on flute, Eran Egozy on clarinet, Anne Howarth on French horn, Jae Young Cosmos Lee on violin, Jennifer Montbach on oboe, and Gregory Newton on bassoon. The ninth core position (viola) is not filled for the 2008–2009 season. Additional musicians are engaged as the repertoire demands.

Artistic Diversity

Radius Ensemble plays a diverse blend of standard repertoire and more modern music, occasionally venturing into realms that could be classified as experimental. Further variety and flexibility is added to each performance by using a range of ensembles: solo instruments, smaller ensembles, and larger groups are regularly included in the same concert. Radius further enhances its artistic diversity by promoting works of living and younger local composers. A composer in residence program has featured Jonathan Bailey Holland (2008-2009 season) and Curtis K. Hughes (2007-2008 season). Guest artists have contributed to the increasing popularity of Radius Ensemble. For the 2008–2009 season guest artists include Robin Young (of radio station

WBUR WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed prog ...

) as narrator for the Holocaust-inspired ''There is wind and there are ashes in the wind'' by

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish famil ...

, Robert D. Levin on piano for the

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

''Quintet in E-flat major for piano and winds, K.452'', Marcus Thompson on viola for the

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

''String quintet in F, Op. 88'', and Fenwick Smith on flute for Shulamit Ran's ''Mirage for Five Players''.

Media Reviews

Radius Ensemble has received positive reviews and accolades over its 10-year history from

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Harvard Magazine

The Boston Musical Intelligencer
and other publications.

References

External links

Radius Ensemble website
{{authority control Chamber music groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Massachusetts 1999 establishments in Massachusetts